The Time Machine

by H. G. Wells
A presentation by Pedro Costa
About the author
● Full name: Herbert George Wells
● Born in London, in 1866
● Socialist
● Graduated in London University (degree in
zoology)
● Other notable works: The Island of Doctor
Moreau, The Invisible Man, War of the
Worlds
Historical context
● First published in 1895
● Industrial Revolution
○ Machines
○ Class struggle
● Darwinism
Analysis
● Setting
○ Present (The Time Traveller’s mansion)
○ Future
● Two narrators
○ The guest
○ The Time Traveller
● Mise en abyme (a story within a story)
Plot summary
● First dinner party
○ Explanations about time travel
○ Miniature Time Machine
● Second dinner party
○ The Time Traveller arrives from his travels
○ The story is told
Plot summary
● He goes to year 802.701 AD
● The white sphinx
● Eloi
○ Carefree, childlike
○ Communitarian lifestyle
● Mysterious disappearances of Eloi
Plot summary
● The time machine disappears
○ Appears to be inside the white sphinx
● Morlocks
○ Underground
■ Machinery and industry
○ Feed on Eloi
○ Afraid of fire
● Weena
Plot summary
● Eloi = leisured classes X Morlocks = working class
● The Palace of Green Porcelain
○ Museum
● He goes back to the white sphinx to retrieve his Time Machine
● Travels even further in time
○ Society doesn’t exist anymore
● Gets back to his original point in time
Plot summary
● Proof of his travels: flowers that Weena put in his pocket
● The following day: the narrator comes back to the Time Traveller’s
house
○ The Time Traveller leaves again to explore time and never comes
back
Themes
● Class struggle
● Evolution
● Science and technology
● Fear
Symbols
● Fire and light
● The white sphinx
● Machines
● Flowers
References
WELLS, Herbert George. The time machine. 1895. New York: Berkley, nd, 2005.

COURSE HERO. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. 2019. Disponível em

<https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz_ZtyOWL9BQVfEu5FP_NtdmoNXChomxh>.
Acesso em: 27 mai. 2019.

SHMOOP. The Time Machine. 2008. Disponível em

<https://www.shmoop.com/time-machine-hg-wells/> Acesso em 27 mai. 2019.